Computer animation shows the Raffaello module being returned to Endeavour for the trip home. Photo: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

In the near term, flight controllers, engineers and the astronauts are focused on Endeavour's mission, getting Expedition Four on board and getting Expedition Three back to Earth after four months in space.

On Dec. 7, the Raffaello module will be unlatched and remounted in Endeavour's cargo bay for return to Earth. The next day, the shuttle will undock, leaving Onufrienko and his crewmates on their own until the next shuttle crew arrives in March.

Kelly will be at the controls for undocking, guiding the orbiter straight away from the station and then through a loop around the outpost for photo documentation.

"When we get physical separation between the space station and space shuttle, I'll start firing some jets and we'll move out to about 450 feet in front of the space station," Kelly explained in a NASA interview.

"And then we'll command the shuttle to start pitching over, and when we pitch over, then I'll start translating to keep the top of the space shuttle pointing right at the space station. And that'll allow us to fly this 360-degree maneuver all the way around the station. We can survey the outside of it, take some pictures, and the engineers can use that later to determine the, you know, the status of certain components and if there's been any damage."

Kelly will guide Endeavour through an additional quarter loop before leaving the station for good.

"That whole procedure takes a good amount of time," he said, "it's a slow maneuver, it's kind of challenging. ... So it'll be exciting, and I'm really looking forward to it."

The day after undocking, Gorie, Kelly and Tani will check out the shuttle's re-entry systems while their crewmates stow loose gear and ready the ship for its fiery plunge back to Earth. If all goes well, Endeavour will touch down on the Kennedy Space Center's 3-mile-long runway around 3:15 p.m. on Dec. 10.

Over the past year, the station grew from 70 tons to 150 tons and now is roughly comparable to the mass of Russia's old Mir space station.

Five space station assembly flights are planned for 2002 to build a huge truss that ultimately will support four sets of solar arrays. Some 50 tons of hardware will be delivered to the station and astronauts will carry out 19 spacewalks to continue the lab's assembly and outfitting.

After a mission in February to service the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's space station assembly flights will resume in March with delivery of the central section of the solar array truss.

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